Product Description

The doll you love comes home on DVD in a full-length, live-action movie. Molly: An American Girl On The Homefront has all the joy, excitement and you-are-there history of the best-selling books about Molly McIntire. Molly McIntire is a girl growing up in 1944. The world is at war, and she misses her father who is overseas caring for wounded soldiers. Molly doesn't like many of the changes the war has brought, like rationing rubber, eating turnips for dinner, and not seeing her Dad on Christmas. But she learns the importance of getting along and pulling together, just as her country must do to win the war! Lively and lovable, she is the star of her story. Cast includes Molly Ringwald (Pretty in Pink, Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3587 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-11-28
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 85 minutes

Amazon.com
Molly, a spunky heroine in the wildly popular American Girl series of books and characters, is a typical tween living in an atypical time: 1943, the height of World War II. In An American Girl on the Home Front, Molly and her friends are dimly aware of the war and the occasional hardship it can mean, but Molly (played with grace and bravado by Maya Ritter), like most kids, really hasn't had occasion to pay attention ("She just doesn't understand rations, Mom," her sister snipes). This film follows Molly as the war begins to hit home; her father is shipped overseas and her mom (a delightful Molly Ringwald) becomes a temporary Rosie the Riveter. Molly bravely rolls with the punches, yet her life is still leavened with fun, like learning to tap dance for the local Miss Victory competition. Then a young refugee from England, Emily (Tory Green), comes to stay, and Molly's, and young viewers', consciousness is raised. As always with American Girl heroines, Molly is a great role model with strong values, but never a goody-two-shoes. The period touches, including clothes, movie-reels, and background music, are well done too. Extras include a compelling documentary, Uncle Sam Wants You... to Tap Dance, featuring an interview with Mitzy Scott, an 88-year-old former USO dancer and hostess, relaying her personal history of dancing at home and with soldiers on leave, making something personal and dear to her--dance--into the ultimate patriotic act. --A.T. Hurley

Customer Reviews

Step back in time...
I loved this movie for my 5 year old daughter. She learned what times were like in the past for our country and true family values.

Disappointing
Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front is based on the excellent books by Valerie Tripp, about an 8-year-old girl growing up during World War 2. In the books she is excited to be doing her part, and while she wishes the war was not happening, she realizes that everyone on the home front needs to do their part to help the soldiers fighting in the war.
After the two other wonderful American Girl movies, this movie just doesn't cut it. In the books she tries to find the good part of everything; in the movie she is a borderline grouch, that always has to complain about something. To top it off the actors were terrible, Maya Ritter being one of the worst ones, portraying a stiff likeness of Molly.
Another thing I noticed was that Molly's two best friends (Linda and Susan) personalities were actually flipped in the movie! In the books Linda is the practical one, who always thinks through their plans, while Susan is the impractical dreamer of the trio. Everything that Linda said in the movie, I just KNEW Susan had said, and vice versa.
Also, the movie and the books were quite different. For one thing, where was Brad?!? In the books, he is Molly's younger brother, around the age of five. He definitely makes the books quite funny, and is just a cute addition to the family. In the movie he was nowhere to be found. Another thing is that they took a lot out. For example, in Molly's Surprise: A Christmas Story (Book 3) (American Girls Collection), Molly and her older sister find a Christmas package from their father. They hide the package until Christmas day, and then sneak it under the tree at midnight on Christmas Eve. This was not in the movie. Instead, the father was there giving presents to everyone, including Emily (who was not there in the books). I was happy to see though, that the presents he gives everyone are the same presents that he sends to them in the book.
On the upside, the bonus features are really good. One (which is my personal favorite), shows you, step-by-step the dance that Molly and the other girls in her dance class perform in the Christmas show! There are many other features that help to make this DVD worth buying.
All in all, this movie, while not as good as the others, is nice to have in your collection if you are a die-hard American Girl fan, such as myself.

Molly, an American Girl Hero
If you are an American Girl fan, this DVD is a must. It is a great way to teach your daughter/granddaughter about American History. This movie takes you back to WWII and a family faced by the challenges of the war, both abroad and on the home front. Each main character in the American Girl series faces real-life problems and models strength of character. As a former 5th grade teacher, I would highly recommend it.